Wednesday, 18 July 2012

I've been working and also made that little trip away from all my material belongings, so I haven't been able to participate so often. This is one of my few handmade things and alas, I must confess it is yet again not made by me! ;D But I deffinately shall start making things myself, though I have no idea what would they be.

This necklace is made by a mother of my dear friend, she is one crafty woman. She is actually a teacher of arts and crafts so she is allways looking for new things to make and this is just one of the fabilous jewellery she has made.

The necklace is made of an old silk tie. It is stitched narrower from the other end too and inside there is little wooden pearls. Then the maker has separated all pearls by binding the bar to a little string of balls.

As seen in the pictures, it can be used in many ways, one can tie it to the wrist and it looks also great. Or, if one has a massive hair extensions, it can be used around the head or as a decorative way to tie ones hair.

I'm a bit frustrated, because this week is going to a busy one for me, so I probably won't be able to participate to CGSW that much. :( And at Sunday I am off to visit my parents whom live 200 kilometers away so I won't be home for two weeks.

Also, this weekend I'll be a volunteer worker at Finncon, which is one of Europe's biggest scifi- and fantasy convention. I'll be working at the greenroom, making sure all the guest speakers and other important people have their beverages and peace to get ready for their shows. There is really no reason to brag, I got there only because I have a proof about my knowledge of hygiene, because that is a big part of my real summer job. Therefore it is not probable I get them food poisoned or anything. Still, I'm pretty excited, since many of the guest speakers are people whose work I like or, like the case is with some Finnish authors, I know them personally via family. This is also the first time I ever volunteer to help in any convention, so I think I deserve my child like happiness. ^^

Thursday, 12 July 2012

I was on an over-night trip to see some art in a little town one hour drive away. There I saw this wonderful artist's works. Her name is Veera Pitkänen and she has quite a gothic feel in her paintings. I could not copy any pictures of her work, so you'll just have to go and check them via links!

Wednesday, 11 July 2012

As stated earlier, I am not usually doing that much crafty things and todays task was hard to come by with something that I allready own, since I am off tomorrow to a little trip and have no time to figure out something cool and gothy for the occasion.

A real gothic flower

This is a handmade (by somebody) and I bought it from a flea market. I actually molded it by myself too, but that only meant that I cut off a hideous bow tie the skull had. The bow tie was some plain blue fabric with white squares and it clashed really hard with the red of the skull. I have no idea why the maker had put it there but removing it made the hole hair clip much better.

Even though I have not manufactured this floral decoration, it is not hard to figure out how it was made. There is an ordinary fake daisy from some nifty gifty shop, the beam is cut of and the hairclip is glued at the back. There is also a part of a little plastic skeleton, I guess from some halloween season sale and the skull has been cut in half. Then the front of the skull is glued to the flower. I guess they used glue gun, or what ever it is called that makes hot glue people use at wood work at elementary school.

I do actually have something that one would wear above neck, but I have not yet figured out what exactly I ought to do with it. There is no other possibilty than to let it be for the time being. Also, my camera is charging the battery and I just remembered it and have no pics of that hair decoration thingy. it is also a find from the same flea market but it needs much more molding than the skull with an ugly bow tie.

Wednesday, 4 July 2012

I believe many people besides me has had this annoying situation. One has found a beautiful coat at the second hand shop or the local charity shop, or got a used item from a friend. The coat fits otherwise perfectly, BUT the sleeves are tiny bit too short. There is also no way to extend the original fabric.

I once found a leather jacket for 5 euros and its sleeves were about 4 cm too short, leaving my wrist totally exposed to this cold climate. So, I decided to make arm warmers that could be used with that particular coat but also with other occasions too. I did not have a sewing machine so they really are totally handmade. At that time I was more active about LARPing, and that’s why the stitching is made so “rough”. It was perfect for a little Celtic fantasy game I attended.

Basically I just went and bought the fake fur, I asked for a kind I could work by hands and I already had that white fabric. Then I just made two tubes, inside white and outside black fake fur, that came just a bit over from the ends of the tubes.

They are very nice, one can just make them as tiny as possible and put the on, sleeve insidethe tube, or if it is the coat, then tube is under the sleeve, fur side to the skin and the part that comes out of the sleeve is just turned over and there is a nice little fur collar, warming one’s fingers. One tube can be also used as a muff. That fake fur is not that thick, so One can attach some lovely gothic jewellery to them. Like if it is a muff, then at the middle some huge golden or sivery symbol.

Lovely Goth Mary Poppins gave me a Liebster Award and I am a bit stunned and flattered. I have been in Blogger just a couple of months and have not encountered these awards or chain mails or anything else that is social. ;)

The Rules:
Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
Answer the questions the tagger has set for you.
Create 11 questions the tagger has set for you.
Choose 11 people and link back to them.
No tag backs.

11 things:

1. I am going to visit Warsaw, Poland in August and I am really excited about the trip even though it is merely a short weekend.

2. I have no musical talents what so ever. I do not understand anything more complicated than basic beat.

3. Even though I do not understand music, I love to listen to it and dance to it. I can feel it and it feels gooooood!

4. I guess I use a bit too much alcohol, but I consciously block the thought. I do not try to get drunk and when I do get drunk it is usually a student thing or a party weekend.

5. I am a vain person. My looks are more important to me than what I care to confess.

6. My mother is a writer and of coarse from time to time her writer-friends tend to ask from me when I am going to publish my first novel. It is a bit annoying, since I would never be as popular as my mother and my writing is so different from hers.

7. I have a sick sense of humour.

8. I love playing with words and hidden meanings.

9. At spring I am supposed to have my baccalaureate, but I have no idea what I should make my research of.

10. My student organisation is making a pin up calendar and it has been really fun!

11. I do not really know that much people from the blogger community, so it is a bit hard to come up with 11 people to send this to.

Questions:

1. Some story, that was embarrassing when happened, but later became funny.
I work part time as a salesperson at a kiosk. It was supposed to be my day off, but I got called to work, since another salesperson was taken ill. I was needed immediately and I said “yeah, by subway I’ll be there in 20 minutes”. The problem was, I was not home and I was wearing a teeny-tiny black tulle skirt. I got a work blouse to lend, and everything was ok as long as I staid behind the counter. The action started 15 minutes before closing, because I had to come out and take the advertisers from outside and tidy up. So, I’m there in a miniskirt and high heels and some drunk comes in and is amazed. “Whoa, what a fairy, I wonder what’s under all that tulle!” he yelled and I quickly went to the backroom. Luckily he hiked off when I told him to.

2. Any weird fact about you.
My pinky toes have a hunchback. All the other toes are normal and slender, but in both feet the last little fellow looks like a Notre Dame’s bell ringer. They practically have no nails either.

3. What did you wanted to be when you grow up?
Till the age of 7 I wanted to be a vampire. I have no idea why, but I have found a great pile of drawings I’ve made of vampires and their castles. I had designed my own castle and how I would décor it. All the vampires had long nails, black or dark red lips and split ends in their hair. I have no idea, why I felt that was so important, that all my drawings had many split-ended hairs. I guess those looked like snake’s tongue. When I was 7 years old, I found a book called “Witch’s handbook” and decided to become a witch instead. ;)

4. Best Christmas present ever?
Actually I dislike presents. I always have this fear the present is going to suck and one has to pretend it is nice so the giver is going to feel good, even though inside one is disappointed. I can’t really remember a “best Christmas present ever”.

5. Funny local tradition that you and/or your family follows.
Instead of trick-or-treat at Halloween, in my home country children go for a stroll at Easter. They dress as Easter bunnies and witches (now you know why I like this tradition so much!) and they knock at doors and ask if they can wish well for the household / make a spell for good luck. Basically that means they have these wands of willow that are decorated with feathers and flowers made of silk paper (to symbolize spring) and they say a little poem about good luck and give the stick to the person whom they wished good luck for. In return the person gives candy and chocolate to little witches.

7. Are you a morning bird or night owl?
I tend to stay up till late night, but not till the sunrise. It is quite hard, considering how at this time of year, the sun hardly goes down in my home town. Usually my lections start about ten or twelve, so I do not have anything to force me to rise up early.

8. Do you prefer boots or pointy heels?
Pointy heels are adorable! I have way too many high heeled shoes and I love them all, but I would love me a pair of good boots too. I have been searching for those for over a year now.

9. What is your favourite snack?
At the moment, I like plums. At the shop they are juicy and ripe, so they are a perfect snack.

10. Alcohol: yes or no?
Yes. In my home country it is all most a tradition to be an alcoholic, but I do not consider myself to be one. I just love a glass of good wine with good supper. I do not like to get drunk. I just love dry white wine or a bottle of velvety red. Or a glass of bubbly, but no cider, ale, or long drink. Funny thing, in Finland we call long drink as "lonkero" which also means "tentacle".

11. What was your last dream you can remember?
Last night in my dream I was hoovering, but the dust just came from the other end out and I was really distressed and desperate. That is a really lame dream, but got to be honest.

The questions:

1. If you were a household item, what would you be and why?
2. What you dislike in yourself the most?
3. What is your best feature?
4. If you were a supernatural creature, what would you be and why?
5. What would your dream holiday be like?
6. What sort of a relationship you have with your parents/family members, do you get along?
7. Do you have a birth mark, a tattoo or some other special feature in your body?
8. Tell a story of one of your scars or other injuries.
9. What is your favourite book and why?
10. Do you have some sort of a talent and what it is?
11. If you could choose a new name for yourself, what would it be and why?